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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner

How do you say "bend" in Japanese?

曲げる

mage ru

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "bend" is 曲げる (mage ru).

Listen to the pronunciation:

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Pronunciation

Ma-ge-ru, three syllables, 'ge' pronounced like the English 'geh', not a hard 'j' sound.

Writing and usage

曲げる is written using kanji. It's a verb, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

持ち上げるときは膝を曲げてください。

mochi age rutokiha hiza wo mage tekudasai.

Bend your knees when you lift.

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How to remember 曲げる

Mageru sounds like 'mah, gear, rue' — bend the gear the wrong way and you'll rue it.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 曲げる

How do you pronounce 曲げる?

Ma-ge-ru, three syllables, 'ge' pronounced like the English 'geh', not a hard 'j' sound.

Is 曲げる formal or casual?

曲げる is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 曲げる written in Japanese?

曲げる is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as mage ru.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Bend" in other languages

Curated by Callan Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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